After months of teasers, speculation and false hope, the news awaited by many became official today as Nike announced the official release date of the Air Yeezy II, easily one of the most anticipated non-athlete sig shoes, and debuted official pics, sketches and “a hyper-real drawing.” Per the press release

Bringing the inspiration forward from the late 1980’s basketball foundation of the original Nike Air Yeezy, the II is built on the Nike Air Tech Challenge II tennis shoe outsole and celebrates iconic Nike Cross Training silhouettes with the addition of the molded forefoot strap.

An obsessive approach to materials results in a luxurious mix of leather, rugged ballistic nylon, and soft nubuck. Concealed but opulent details reference ancient civilizations, including a loop strap with hieroglyphics that spell out ‘YZY.’ Each screw on lace aglet is obelisk shaped, and the anaconda texture is echoed on the eyelets and leather lace toggle that carries the Roman numeral ‘II.’

The Nike Air Yeezy II in the Platinum and the Black edition will release June 9th at select global retailers in limited numbers.

The madness shall officially begin. For now, click through to marvel at the photos and sketches while putting in calls and firing off emails trying to lock down a pair.

As far as copping a pair, i generally ask myself if id buy em if i saw them on the shelf at an outlet and didnt know what they were. With these the answer is no, theyre just not my style and im not about rocking em for the prestige.

(although if i could procure a pair relatively painlessly, id flip em in a heartbeat)

i tried looking that up (admittedly havent kept up with shoes since my oldest was born), do you know if its legitimately reducing the “chemical burden” of producing Nike shoes, or is this marketing and a price bump?

I’m cool on these. They just don’t look as good to me as the first ones. I think having like eight diff. patterns is too much going on visually. I enjoy simplicity and comfort, not hype for its own sake or over-the-top detailing just to show off.